PokéDuel
by PuppyBeBad
Summary: Formerly called 'Best Destiny Ever', The Pharaoh Atem has once again been reincarnated well his Greatest enemy has retaken a human body. Join our friend Yugi as he goes on his path to be a Pokemon Master and uncovers the secrets of not only his past lifes' but worlds beyond his own. WARNING: Gore & Happy Fluff (I hope I got a good mix of the two) Yaoi (Furry much later on) Spanking
1. Chapter 1

The Pharaoh Atem has once again been reincarnated well his Greatest enemy has retaken a human body. Join our friend Yugi as he goes on his path to be a Pokemon Master and uncovers the secrets of not only his past lifes' but worlds beyond his own. WARNING: Gore & Happy Fluff (I hope I got a good mix of the two) Yaoi (Furry much later on) Spanking

A/N:

This is a multi-Xover, meaning multiple franchises (in this case all of them) take place in this universe. Although you might not see them in this story all my crossovers connect as part of the same universe. Please read the first chapter of my story 'Paradox Unleashed' to get a better understanding of the universe itself. That is pretty boring as it is just an explanation of the universe.

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**Chapter One: They live amongst us**

"Welcome back to Pocket Monsters Daily, for those of you just now joining us we have with us today a very special guest. Descendant of the inventor of the Pokeball, heir to the Kaiba Corporation, and named Pokemon Champion in five regional tournaments, the one and only Seto Kaiba"

"A pleasure to be here Mr. Wong" despite his words the skilled 16 year old trainer appeared more bored then pleased. However the Dratini draped over his shoulders appeared ecstatic as its head turned in every direction, examining the stage and the audience looking out at them.

"Now, Mr. Kaiba, is it true that it's thanks to you Giovanni was able to legalize his trading cards into the Kanto and Johto tournaments"

"The rumors would be correct. I invested a good bit of money into Giovanni's campaign as well as personally designed the Duel Disk system that has been in use for the past 3 years. I even designed the upgraded model that has been authorized for official use in this years tournaments and of course the necessary gym battles needed to qualify. Hopefully the obvious success of these upcoming tournaments will cause the other regions to see reason and agree to the next phase of Pokemon battles"

"For those of you who don't know" Mr. Wong smiled at the camera "Pokemon are physically manifestations of data, how that came to be is a mystery thousands of years in the making. Pokeballs are used to scramble that data to safely and conveniently store these creatures. Giovanni, the gym leader of Viridian City, went one step further and created cards that carry a code or program that affects Pokemon. These cards, with the help of Mr. Kaiba's Duel Disk system, have been used in unofficial battles between trainers since their creation. Mr. Kaiba would you care to demonstrate?"

Not answering Kaiba stood revealing the 'Duel Disk' attached to his left arm. Six shrunken Pokeballs were fitted into the inner circle of the device well the outer circle contained 5 slots for cards. A holder for his desk was just over his hand.

"Dartini" Kaiba spoke to his Pokemon and the blue serpent jumped off his shoulder and got in a fighting position. Its eyes narrowing in an attempt to look dangerous but only managing to increase its cuteness factor. Kaiba pulled out a card from his deck and put it on one of the slots. A beam of data shot out from the disk onto the Dartini and materialized as a sword floating next to it. The young serpent quickly curled its tail around the hilt of the blade as it materialized and the moment it was stable swung it about with the grace of the finest dancer. This all happened in less then a moment.

"The card holds the program and is relayed through the Pokeball" Kaiba explained "Different cards contain different effects. You can give your Pokemon upgrades such as weapons, armor, power ups, healing during a match, even" Kaiba placed down another card on the disk and the Dartini erupted into red light, growing and mutating until a Dragonair stood in its place still holding the sword "Evolving the Pokemon to the next Stage, unfortunately it is only temporary. It only last as long as the card is in play" taking all the cards off the disk the Pokemon instantly erupted back into light and there floated the cute little Dartini.

"We call this temporary evolution 'digivolving' and we've taken it to the next logical phase" he held up a monster card that had a picture of a white dragon with blue eyes. Smiling as he throw it down on the Duel Disk the people in the audience gasped and the camera was forced to zoom out as the cute little Dartini transformed into that massive dragon "there are special rare cards that allow Pokemon of the same type to digivolve into them. These cards vastly increase the Pokemon's power as well as unlock new attacks" pushing down on one of the Pokeballs on the disk the dragon turned into a flash of red light and was pulled through the Duel Disk back inside the Pokeball.

"The only flaw with the Duel Disk is that as a result of the data on the cards being channelled through the Pokeball we have not yet perfected battles which use more then one Pokemon per trainer, but we're looking into it"

"Amazing" Mr. Wong clapped "Now as a personal treat for our audience you're each going home with your own personal Duel Disk as well as a starter deck courtesy of Kaiba Corp"

Yugi sat wiggling in front of the tv, the binders that held his cards beside him and many of the cards were spread out in front of him as he rebuilt his deck for the hundredth time that week. The binders kept the cards safe in plastic sheets and were organized by type: Spell cards, trap cards, armor cards, weapon cards, and digivolution cards (the last binder was the thinnest as such monster cards were so rare he had very few in comparison to the others).

In all he had hundreds of cards but only one Pokemon. His Gastly was floating around the room chuckling for some reason. He found it years ago... or should he say the Gastly found him. Back when Yugi was little he got lost in the ruins near Violet City. His older brother was always telling him off for exploring that place but most of the kids in town liked to hang out there. As expected Yugi got lost and after a few hours this Gastly showed up and started chasing him. Okay it was more like following but ghost Pokemon could be terrifying at first glance. Eventually Yugi got too tired of running and the Gastly just floated there next to him for awhile. After realizing it wasn't going to eat him he let the ghost lead him out of the tunnels but then it refused to leave. It just kept following him everywhere. When Yugi got home and his brother saw the Gastly he gave the small boy a Pokeball and the Gastly popped right in without hesitation.

There were a few Pokemon activists out there who thought 'imprisoning' Pokemon in Pokeballs and having them battle one another was wrong but obviously they never meet Gastly. He loved to fight and could be a real brat about it, mocking his opponents by laughing at them or making faces. He also loved his Pokeball and would pop himself in there whenever he got bored or sleepy. That was the only time he was in the Pokeball usually as Yugi liked having him follow him around. Gastly was good company.

There was a saying Yugi heard from a few of the trainers that came to town "Spend enough time with a Pokemon and you'll start to make sense of their gibberish" that was definitely true of Gastly. Yugi could guess pretty well what Gastly was trying to say when he repeated his species name over and over again like most Pokemon do... and right now he was making fun of him for constantly messing with his cards.

Yugi couldn't help it, he was so excited. He was going to be ten in a few days, finally old enough to challenge a gym and set out on his own adventure.

He held up his favorite card by far and smiled. 'The Dark Magician' it was a digivolution card, or a monster card if you prefer. Written on it were the requirements and abilities of the card. It could only be used if the Pokemon was a Ghost, Dark, or Psychic type. It gave the Pokemon tremendous power and two attacks. 'Dark Magic Attack' which was a burst of purple energy that did amazing damage and 'Staff Strike' which was far weaker but took your opponent off balance for a moment.

The power of the cards meant very little if you didn't know how to use them. You had to be strategic in their implementation just like with ordinary attacks. Dispite being too young to be a legitimate trainer Yugi often battled those that came to challenge the gym leader of their city. They saw him as a nice warm up or a bit of fun before a serious match. Sometimes they used cards or had a more traditional fight. Cards more often now that they were officially in the tournament but it used to be kind of rare with legitimate trainers as they wanted practice for the gym leader; Although cards with unofficial trainers who were too young or just didn't care about gym battles was practically always with cards going all the way back to when they first came out on the market. It didn't matter as either way Yugi usually won, putting much egg on the older trainers faces.

Putting the Dark Magician down in the 'must have' pile for his deck he picked up another card 'Magical Hats'. It was a trap card that hide your Pokemon in one of four large hats. The Pokemon stayed hidden until the opponent either found him or you choice to leave the hat (generally for a surprise attack). It was also good if your Pokemon was injured as you could safely use a healing spell card without your opponent's knowledge or add more armor. Or better yet set up traps in the other hats.

Yugi also like to give Gastly a digiberry, like the ones his brother grew in the back, to wear before a battle that way if things got drastic Gastly could recover health quickly during a fight without taking up a card slot. It took a few seconds to lay down a spell card then remove it once it was activated and lay down another card. Seconds could be vital during a match. You had to be quick with your cards, your orders, and your strategy well keeping an eye on your Pokemon. Battling with Duel Disks was much harder though it should make it easier. It definitely made the battle funner for all involved as you got to be more then a cheerleader for your Pokemon.

Yugi finally settled on his deck, again, and shuffled them before sticking them in his deck holder attached to his belt. He practically always wore that along with the old model Duel Disk he had on his left wrist. The old model could only hold one Pokeball at a time so if you were someone that actually had all six Pokemon on your person, as was the official limit, you had to switch out the Pokeball in the disk. Also the old model didn't keep track of the cards you used during a battle so some people were tempted at cheating. Yugi caught some people laying down the same spell card more then once. Once a card is used or neutralized ('destroyed' is the term even though no harm actually comes to the card or the program within it) your supposed to take it out of the game. The new Duel Disk actually keeps track of each card played. Each card is marked with a serial number, no card has the same number. The new model reads that code so you can't play the same card twice unless you have multiple of that card in your deck. The old model doesn't do that. You can even whisper in your attacks and your Pokemon will hear you through the PokeBall. Although must people just shout at the Pokemon themselves that was still a great feature, especially for sneaky cards like 'Magical Hats'. Another thing the new model does is it has a built in PokeDex. Under the arm has a screen you can flip up to reveal the buttons but largely it is voice activated with over a thousand registered Pokemon and can record info if you find a new one.

Yugi was really hoping, and begging, his brother got him the new Duel Disk system for his birthday. He had been researching it like crazy since they announced it, even before he knew the old model wasn't allowed in official battles.

Sighing Yugi put the cards we wasn't going to use in their appropriate binders and put them back into his backpack. He was more concerned with having his card collection then fresh underwear for the trip. He needed his cards for when he caught new pokemon. Who knew what type they'd be or what cards would be best for them. Right now his 60 card limit deck completely revolved around Gastly.

Looking at his backpack he thought of the days before digitizing sensors. When trainers had to travel with barely anything. True he wasn't alive in those days but his school teacher often rambled about them. Now with a better understanding of just what Pokemon were came the technology to synthesize nearly anything out of data. Clothes, tools but not overly complex things like Pokeballs, the cards, chemicals, medication, or food (you could make digital food for the taste but it wasn't real so the body couldn't absorb anything from it. It would just disintegrate into meaningless data when consumed. One good thing about that was you could eat all the cake you wanted without getting fat but it didn't quite taste the same as real cake. Some health nuts claim it can give you cancer but that can be cured with about a month's worth of pills and one doctor's visit to get the prescription).

That's what the backpack was, a generator. The large sack that made up most of the bag was real and strictly for solid things but the smaller pocket at the front was a complex computer. It generated programs into solid materials and as long as the generator was near the objects stayed in existence. You could get out of range but the Backpack at least had a pretty far range. It also had a memory worth about 80 Yottabyte . Of course programs for the generator took up a lot of memory space so it was not that big compared to others, and not even a fraction of what his tablet could handle, but it was enough for the needs of a soon to be ten year old. It even had pockets for water bottles on the sides.

The bag had mostly been for school, as his teacher was ancient and insisted on solid books. It seemed odd to generate books out of a bag when you could just read them on a screen (you couldn't even save your place in solid books) but that's just how the man was. He probably would have liked to take it a step further and used books made out of PAPER, that needlessly kills trees! Thinking on it Yugi figured the man must be worried his students would be playing on their tablets if he allowed them to use them in class... which may be a legitimate fear.

Yugi had been buying programs like crazy on his tablet (Clothes, rope, tools, junk food) then uploaded them to the backpack. He connected the two wirelessly a long time ago. The only real issue was if he lost the tablet he couldn't store any more data in the backpack. It would still have all the old programs but he couldn't get new ones. He didn't lose things very often but who knows what could happen on the road.

He made a mental note to only take it out if really necessary and to store it right back into the larger pocket when he was done.

He opened up the smaller pocket and found a screen attached on the wall of it. He scrolled down with his finger and pushed what he was looking for. A small candy bar materialized in the pocket and Yugi popped it into his mouth. The taste reminded him a little of a chocolate covered strawberry but not really. It was a cheap program he bought years ago but it still tasted good.

He took out his tablet, as his mental note was strictly for his trip, and began playing one of his favorite games on it. A vampire hunting game called 'Blood Lust' where you were a half vampire killing off hundreds of different species of vampires. It was an RPG and the creators said it would take about 12 years to get through all the special side missions and content. Most Role Playing Games were like that nowadays. They took forever to make but they were so worth it. After that he opened up a few comics on his tablet followed by an episode of his favorite cartoon. 'Red' was based off the greatest trainer who ever lived, Ash Ketchum, one who Yugi worshipped.

It was raining pretty heavily outside so he had no desire to do anything outdoors. So he just did a million and one things on his tablet.

"Yugi!" Called a voice over the intercom "Get down here for a second"

Yugi turned off the game he had gone back to playing and put the tablet back in his bag with the binders. He made the long trip out his room and down the stairs. He lived in a six story shop called "Devlin's Trainer Dynamics". It sold Pokeballs, PokeChow, digiberries, healing potions, cards, and pretty much anything a trainer might need. It was a 'family owned' shop that had several locations but this was the biggest store and Yugi lived on the top floor with his older brother.

Their parents died in a car crash and so Duke had been raising Yugi on his own. Yugi barely even remembered their parents but Duke tried to counteract that with lots of stories about them.

Duke had been running this store and the company (along with Yugi) since he was 16 and doing a pretty good job of it. There was just one issue. He was weird.

Yugi made it to the bottom of the stairs and walked over to the counter were his brother was standing organizing trading cards to be sold separately. He made good money buying booster packs then selling the cards individually. He'd been doing that since the cards came out.

Yugi studied his brothers clothes. As per usual he was wearing tight fit jeans with a girly top that showed off his abs and sweetbands on his upper arms. He also had an earring of a miniature Pokeball handing from a chain and lots of black jeweler: bracelets, rings, a choker, necklaces, the works.

Many of the girls thought he was cute and many of the guys mistook him for a girl. He's just how he liked to dress, strangely. Yugi couldn't really talk with his hair. It was spiky with a lot of it and in three different colors (blonde, black, and red) but he couldn't help that. His hair was naturally that strange. He didn't dye it or put gell in it dispite what people thought. It just stood up like that on it's own. As for the color he just couldn't figure it out and Duke wouldn't let him dye it to look normal. It really didn't make sense as both his parents and Duke and all the way back to his great great great great great, and a million other"greats", grandparents (if the picture of the store founders on the wall was any indication) had really dark black hair. Then their was the fact they all had tanned skin where his was unusually pale. Yugi suspected he was adopted, from gypsy witch aliens, but Duke swore they were blood related... even had a blood test done to make Yugi shut up about it but if the boy was really a gypsy witch alien then the government would be covering up the test results... saying that got him a smack upside the head and an order to stop being so paranoid.

"Yugi look what I got you" Duke held up a plastic bag straight from the store filled with underpants of the boy's favorite cartoon.

Yugi blushed, completely mortified and snapping his head from side to side to make sure no one was in the store. Luckily with the weather being so bad it had been a really slow day. The only person in the store was a very wet Bakura and Yugi suspected Duke had sent him out to get the undies in the first place. Duke could hardly of went out and bought them himself well manning the store.

"Go put these in your backpack" Duke smiled handing the boy the undies

"You didn't have to waste money on these you know" real clothing was much more expensive then holographic clothes. Yugi wore a watch at all times like everyone else that bent light and turned it solid. It worked nothing like his generator backpack as it worked with light and not data. It was more limiting in some ways but more advanced in others. It was just a different field of science when you got down to it. Yugi's watch could only project clothes around the body of the one who wears it, and makeup and temporary tattoos and stuff like that. It was pretty convenient and he had some really great Halloween projections in there too.

"How many times do I have to tell you" Duke didn't even look at him as he went back to sorting the cards "If you don't wear some real clothes then if your watch shorts out you'll be stark naked in the middle of nowhere"

"It's not going to short out" Yugi insisted. It was an old wives tale that it could. He'd never seen or even heard of it actually happening. It was also really unlikely that the power would run out as the battery lasted for an entire week and Yugi recharged it regularly.

"Just put it in your bag, and can I get a 'thank you brother'"

Yugi sighed "Thank you brother"

"And thank Bakura to since he went to all the trouble of getting those for you in this weather" HE KNEW IT

"Thank you Bakura" Yugi did his best not to glare

"Duke said you'd like them" Bakura sweet dropped

Yugi sighed again at his own misplaced rage "I do but you really didn't have to go to all the trouble"

"It was no trouble really" Bakura smiled "I'm used to walking around in this kind of weather" that remark reaked of bad omens for Yugi's dry lifestyle.

Bakura was a 15 year old trainer from Fuchsia City, the Kanto region. He had come to Violet City to battle the gym leader and got beaten pretty severely. He'd been here for a little over a week training to take on the gym leader again. He made friends with everyone almost the second he arrived. He was a likeable guy if a bit meek. Duke really liked him and Yugi guessed he did to. He was more Duke's friend.

"Like to stay for dinner?" Duke smiled "Yugi's making grilled fish eyes with lemon custard" Bakura turned green not understanding it was a joke. Of course with how odd Duke was people must figure he ate all kinds of weird things.

Yugi smiled at Bakura with a decision to put him out of his misery "I'm making fried eel with Saffron Rice"

"No fish eyes with lemon custard?" Duke sniffed

"You'll eat what I give you" Yugi pretended to snap angrily and stormed back upstairs. He put the indies in the backpack like Duke wanted but doubted he'd ever wear them. If he did he'd have to wash them eventually and we would want to wash clothes. Digitally clothes never had to be washed. They just stopped existing when you deactivated them and were forever stored, clean and warm, in the generator's data banks.

'Maybe I'm a little too dependent on technology?' the thought crossed his mind but shrugged it off. They were in a Golden Era of the Digital Age so of course he'd be taking advantage of it... that's a lot of 'ofs' for one sentence.

Shaking his head he went into the community kitchen located just a few chamber's down from his room. It was the largest and best supplied and Duke had put a large table in there for convenience. The Devlin family was once massive so they needed all these rooms and chambers back then but now it was just Yugi and his brother. It was a lot of wasted space. Duke had been talking about turning it into a hotel for trainers and moving both himself and Yugi into one of the largers, more self contained, chambers. It was a smart idea really, as long as Yugi got a door to his room. Selling trainer gear at a place that housed trainers was just good business sense.

Yugi finally decided to stop daydreaming and get started on dinner.

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**A/N: Freakishly long Summary**

Technology of this world is extremely advanced although they do not have space travel, they focused their attentions on other things.

There is a huge difference between the holograms they used in the show Yugioh and the Duel Disk of today. The Duel Disk of Yugioh bent light to create holograms that weren't even solid at the time. These new Duel Disk create solid material out of digital information, not light, a completely different science. Holographic technology has much improved and is what most of their clothes are made of, now solid holograms after thousands of years of improving them.

Humans are not native to this planet, although they don't know that. This is not Earth but rather a planet called Nut after the Egyptian goddess of the sky. These humans only know of Earth as a religious belief with a myth of them crash landing well on a ship that sailed the heavens, meaning space. Although this is what actually happened it's been 10s of thousands years and the idea has become purely a religious sentiment. These people worship the Egyptian gods, with added myths with roots in Japanese legends, but believe when you die your soul is taken back to Earth. If someone says "What on Earth" it's more along the lines of "what in heaven's name". The People who crashed were forced to rebuild from scratch and all knowledge of space travel was lost in the process. They built their own version of Egypt with a flavor of Japanese culture and the world progressed from there.

The Digital world will be explained at a much later date (The furry sex will happen then but it is loooooong off). Our heroes, along with most of humanity, are unaware of the Digital world. It has faded out of public knowledge save for an obscure legend about where Pokemon come from. There are many, less accurate, legends which try to explain the same thing but practically no one knows what is true.

Digimon and Pokemon are the same thing but many Digimon refuse to admit that (Digiracist!). The barrier between the Digital world and the mortalverse had been heavily fortified by the Digidestined thousands of years ago. It was intended to prevent the two worlds from crashing into each other as they nearly had on multiple occasions. Now if a Digimon somehow manages crossing that barrier their code gets scrambled along with their brains. It's so bad they can only speak through subtle differences in the name of their species and they also loss the ability to turn into eggs after their death. They are, however, much harder to kill though just as easy to injure. The suffix "mon" at the end of a species name is nothing more then a Digimon being polite. You use it for the species not a person's name (few Digimon have names but some do). Not using it is the greatest insult in their culture to the point even a Digimon's most hated enemy will still be addressed as "mon"... most don't use it when addressing a Pokemon, That's how much they hate them. They hate them because they fear that scrambled code is something that could easily happen to them if they were ever unfortunate enough to fall through the barrier between worlds. The scramble is permanent and passed on throughout generations though if a Pokemon tried hard enough they can learn to speak their code, effectively their DNA, can never recover. A good example is Charizard. The Digimon version still has a tail, wings, sharp teeth and fangs, as well as the same coloring but it is humanoid with a much smaller snout, a slender body, and messy red hair.

Special cards as well as Pokemon are used in Battles. Cards work on the secondary type of Pokemon as well, as long as the Pokemon meets certain characteristics. Example: Charizard is a secondary dragon type. That means even though he is a fire / flying Pokemon he has the characteristics of a dragon type.

In this Pokemon do not forget an attack after they learned it, it's like martial art skills and doesn't really make sense that they could forget. HMs do not need to be taught to a Pokemon as they are separate abilities and attacks certain Pokemon know naturally. TMs on the other hand do need to be taught. Additional attacks can be gained temporarily through cards and only with the aid of cards can a Pokemon pull them off.

The permanent evolution of some Pokemon works differently in this then the game. Pokemon that required you to trade them to evolve, or you had to be in a certain place at the right time, now evolve with the use of stones. Best Example would be the Eevee evolutions. You get an Espeon with a Moon Stone, Umbreon with a Dusk Stone, and Leafeon with a Leaf Stone. (I have also created a new Pokemon called Eevloreon which is what happens when Eevee gets to level 20 and hasn't been exposed to a stone. It looks like a more grown-up Eevee with eyes that usually appear narrowed or glaring). I love Eevee and its evolutions so had to include them in my story. Bakura has most of them.

Getting Pokemon to higher levels is a really difficult and slow progress as most wild Pokemon are level 5 or lower in any region. It is very rare for a wild Pokemon to get to level 20. Pokemon higher then that are EXTREMELY rare in the wild though they do exist. Wild Pokemon in the Digital world can achieve much higher levels, even going past level 100, as that is a very brutal world.

Though this series is not a romance there will be some love stories from time to time (and very occasionally rape scenes). Those will not be permanent relationships (how can they be when the stars are traveling all the time from city to city for gym battles and eventually through the Digital world). Be aware that this far into the future practically everyone is bi, it is rare for someone to be strongly attached to only one gender. Although most still marry opposite genders same sex marriages are far more common then today's era and not thought of as odd by anyone. In fact people who only like one gender are considered the odd ones. Even with that I'm gay so be advised to what kind of relationships the boys will lean to.

Only Seto Kaiba, Bakura, and the Pharaoh have been reincarnated as a result of being bound to destiny. The others may appear later on but not be directly apart of the impending destiny. In this world everyone gets reincarnated at some point but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be around during the same time period. I probably won't include Joey, Tristan, or the others as main characters as the focus is on the three destined ones and their split personalities (No Kaiba doesn't have one. It must be so lonely in his head. He is a sorcerer in addition to being a Pokemon trainer in order to compete with Zorc and The Pharaoh)

In this Yugi Mutou was a reincarnation of The Pharaoh Atem (I'm not sure if that was canon). In my story something went wrong with the creation of the puzzle and instead of awakening the memories of the person who solves it, as it was intended to, it split the memories of all the past lives into a single but separate entity. That entity will then be trapped inside the puzzle. That will happen again when our Future Yugi solves it and ONLY he can solve it because on some level he remembers creating it (To insure other people won't solve it the puzzle as a curse on it which usually results in the death of whoever tries unless they are the Pharaoh's reincarnation). The flaw even goes so far as to jumble up those memories of the entity which holds all the memories of all his hundreds of reincarnations (not all and not even most of the reincarnations found the puzzle and so their destiny went unfulfilled). How this gets jumbled up is random so the Pharaoh may recall glimpses of his other lives as well as his first and Yugi Mutou's life. The Pharaoh is based a little on the anime version, Season Zero, and even has some elements of LittleKuriboh. He is arrogant, ruthless, sadistic, willing to kill anyone who might get in the way of his overall goal but his goal is ultimately the safety of the planet. He also has a major love of games and makes outrageous bets on them. Such as gambling people's lives and sometimes even their souls in Shadow Games. He is an Anti-Hero but he is a Hero at his heart. Yugi is now Yugi Devlin. Duke Devlin (Yugi's older brother) is not a reincarnation but a very distant descendent who was named after the founder of a company. The original Duke built many companies but only one survived all this time (His company has survived the fall of governments, the movement of continents, and all this time remained in the family. This was only possible as a result of human technology at the time and our adaptability. However most records of the store's history are lost).

Seto was born into the Kaiba family (not adopted) and yes he is both a reincarnation as well as a descendent of himself (my explanation is his soul is tied to the family line and how that happened will be explained later). He has two younger brothers (twins but not identical) and a baby sister. Both his parents are alive and come from old money. This new Kaiba is a jerk because he is far more intelligent then the people around him and can't help looking down at them, not because of any trauma. The Kaiba family is not related to Past Seto's adoptive father but they kept the name because Seto did in the show and they are descended from that Seto. The old Seto Kaiba from the show created Pokeballs at some point near the end of his life. After he died his company abandoned the practice of card game protectors as people were more interested in having real monsters battle and focused on producing Pokeballs. They even organized the first Pokemon tournament.

As for why Bakura has the same name I'm not even going to try to justify that because at the end of the tv series there were like a dozen Barukas and they all had the same name. He WILL be embodied with the evil spirit of Zorc but that will happen in chapter two so I won't spoil it. Zorc is based a lot off LittleKuriboh's Yami Bakura. Ryo Bakura will be fighting for control of his own body throughout the story and he will fail at times. He will not only hear Zorc whispering to him at all times but be aware of what the evil Zorc does well in control of his body, unless Zorc doesn't want him to know but Zorc seriously enjoys fucking with Bakura's head. Zorc is the main reason this story is rated so high, though I don't think it will be often he's going to do some pretty nasty things (Such as murder, rape, and the wearing of his victim's entrails. Sometimes all at the same time but I'll try not to go into too much detail about how gruesome it is)

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Next Time: Prepare for Blood

Zorc's arrival , Yugi is given the Pieces of the Millennium Puzzle


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING:** This chapter is dark and has some gore combined with a quick but incredibly morbid rape scene, prepare yourself

**Chapter Two: Prepare for Blood**

Bakura sat at the table enjoying his meal. It was amazing that a nine year old could cook so well and he politely told his host so.

"All I did was read mom's old cookbooks" Yugi shrugged "Just followed the directions is all. That seems just beyond this one" he pointed his chopsticks at Duke "He instantly burns anything put into a pan... or pot, or toaster, or microwave"

"Enough from the shrimp" Duke rolled his eyes

"We survived mostly on the local restaurants until I learned to cook" Yugi cheekily added one last bit.

Duke silenced him by taking a slice of eel from his bowl and shoving it in the boy's mouth "Don't talk with your mouth full" he chided. His abysmal cooking skills seemed to strike a nerve. Odd with how goofy Duke acts and dressed Bakura didn't figure he had any sore spots.

Bakura didn't have any siblings so didn't really know if this was normal behavior. Of course Duke had raised Yugi so this might be better categorized as 'Fathe/son' behavior. Bakura didn't have a dad either. Didn't even know who the man was. His mother got knocked up during college at a party. She had to drop out and get a job, then two. It was just him and his mom for the longest time in that little apartment. Bakura hardly consider this a poor childhood dispite the pitying looks he got when he told this story. He has lots of friends in his hometown. Despite his mom working two jobs they talked every day. She even managed to make it to every one of his baseball games... It was just him now. She died in an accident at work well Bakura was wondering the world in the truest tradition of a Pokemon trainer. Her life insurance combined with the check the company gave him wasn't that much but it allowed him to continue his lifestyle. He only stayed in hotels if he really had to and he always loved camping anyway. As for food he survived mostly on those cheep nutrient drinks. The ones that were worth a whole day's protein, vitamins, and minerals in one bottle. Everything the body needs and if Bakura rationed it throughout the day he didn't get hungry. Bakura had gotten used to the poor taste. He usually got a temp job every few towns just to be safe. Do a little labor on farms or the gross jobs no one wants to do and in return get a nice handful of credits. He didn't need to but who knows when unexpected expenses might pop up. It was nearly a year until the next Tournament so he had plenty of time.

He was hardly the only trainer living that way and as proof Duke sold the drinks, camping gear programs, and gave away for free on his company website an up-to-date list of people willing to hire trainers in each town worldwide. People looking for temporary workers actually posted jobs on it. Bakura had gotten many jobs from that list long before he met Duke. Even back when he was in the Kanto Region. Devlin's Trainer Dynamics was a global franchise and probably sold trainer merchandise since before the invention of the Pokeball.

His friend's wealth really didn't phase Bakura beyond an admiration that the young man could manage it all. That lack of envy was probably the reason Duke warmed up to him so quickly.

Bakura looked over towards the pantry and saw his Pokemon munching down on the good food Yugi provided. They weren't used to something so tasty. All the various Eevee evolutions were happy even Eevloreon.

Back when Bakura lived at home one of his neighbors' Jolteons laid about a mountain of eggs. After they hatched into a swarm of Eevees they gave them to Bakura as a present for his approaching journey as a trainer.

Bakura studied up on them so he could properly take care of them and found out that as a result of it's "Irregularly configured DNA" it had the ability to evolve into a wide variety of Pokemon. So He went to the local Devlin's shop and bought just as wide a variety of stones. A Water Stone to get a Vaporeon. A Thunderstone to get a Jolteon. A Fire Stone to get a Flareon. A Dusk Stone to get an Umbreon. And for the two girl Eevees he got a Leaf Stone for a Leafeon and a Moon Stone for an Espeon. With the last Eevee he didn't know what to do with it but figured he might need a normal type so it worked out perfectly.

Okay maybe not perfectly as he knew it was against the official rules to carry more then six Pokemon. Unfortunately 'Little Boy Bakura' didn't have enough money leftover from his shopping spree to get a PC account to digitally store Pokemon. He also really didn't want to put the burden on his mom to take care of one of them. So he figured he would decide which six he'd use before each battle and that would keep him honest. Now that he had an official Duel Disk system that was much easier since it could hold only six Pokeballs.

He never really got into card battles before as the Duel Disk and the cards were so expensive. Now he had no choice and his unwillingness to join what he presumed was a fad is the reason he lost so badly when he faced the gym leader of this town. He was spending so long here (constantly battle the local trainers and exploring the woods to fight wild Pokemon) so that he could get used to battling with cards.

Before his shopping spree was up back in his hometown he also bought a bunch of stickers that would grow and shrink with the Pokeball. They were the symbols for each type of Pokemon. At that age Bakura was so inexperienced that he couldn't tell which Pokeball contained who without the stickers. He didn't have one of those belts you can attach Pokeballs to in order to place them in an order he could remember. Now he didn't need the stickers or a belt to remember. He somehow just knew which was which. He did buy a belt later as it was convenient and kept the stickers on the Pokeballs because he'd grown accustomed to them.

The last thing he did on his spree, and the reason he was too dead broke to get a PC account, was buy a bag of Rare Candies. Rare Candy was expensive and usually sold at only one a piece, and even that was too many credits for most trainers. His mom was furious with him because he not only had to spend all his money to get it but had 'borrowed' some of her own (which he ended up paying back with a trip over her knee). It was all very necessary though as all his Pokemon at the time were just babies and only had a power level of one. Bakura desperately needed the candies as they increase a Pokemon's level. He evenly spread out the candies to his Pokemon up until the Eevee stole the bag from him and devoured the rest. Mom said it served him right as the cute little Eevee evolved into a large Eevloreon. It looked much like the Eevee but had far denser muscles (they were slender but you could tell they were there) and was longer in addition to being big enough for the not quite ten year old to ride. Hell he could still ride Eevloreon even now!

Eevloreon had been a pain ever since. He was too high level to have any respect for Bakura. He obviously loved Bakura and would demonstrate that by cuddling up to him and was even very needy for fingers to stroke his fur but that wasn't respect. He loved to fight but would never listen to any of Bakura's 'advice'. Sometimes, too show his opinion of Bakura's strategy, he would do the exact opposite or walk away entirely (though the latter didn't happen very often as he did love to fight). Well traveling Eevloreon would run off and start his own battles with wild Pokemon (though he always came back and thankfully he didn't do that very often well in a town).

It was worse now with the cards as sometimes if Bakura laid down a weapon or armor card Eevloreon would disregard them or out right destroy them if he was in a foul mood. Bakura had to use spell cards, most notably Power-Ups (cards that would increase strength, or agility, or speed, and so on). With how uncoordinated they were with each other during a fight Bakura learned early on not to use trap cards as Eevloreon would accidentally get caught in them himself. Mostly Bakura just had to stand back and let Eevloreon do his own thing with occasional help from spell cards.

Normally Bakura wouldn't use Eevloreon but for gym battles he had no choice. He was by far Bakura's strongest Pokemon. Each victory in a gym only made Eevloreon stronger so it was unlikely Bakura would ever gain the creature's respect. Truth of the matter, Bakura was content with the Pokemon's affections... though admittedly it would be nice if Eevloreon would listen to him occasionally.

Finished with his food Eevloreon walked over to Bakura and snaked his head under the hand that was resting on the boy's lap. With that expectant look in the creature's eye Bakura sighed and began petting him.

"You really shouldn't indulge him so much" Duke advised

"Probably" Bakura shrugged and kept on petting. Truthfully he liked the fact Eevloreon was so needy. It was a welcomed contradiction with the rest of his personality.

After dinner Bakura gathered his Pokemon. He returned them to their Pokeballs then put most of then back inside his Duel Disk. Attaching Eevloreon's Pokeball to his belt Bakura said his goodbyes.

"You know you can stay here" Duke offered "It's far too awful a night to be camping"

"I have a pretty good tent program" Bakura smiled "besides I need to get to the lake. The higher level Water Pokemon like to swim up to the surface in weather like this. Some even come onto the shore. It will be good training"

Yugi appeared to be making a mental note of that.

"It's a long way to the lake" Duke tried again

"So was the outlet store" Bakura saw Yugi blush at the reminder of his new underpants "Don't worry I've walked further in this kind of weather"

"Well if you're sure" Duke sighed

Bakura unshouldered his backpack. Pretty much everyone constantly wore one as it was important to keep your generator close. Of course generators could be anything, purses bags what have you, but they rarely left your person. Bakura took out a heavy gray robe from the sack.

"You have REAL clothes!" Yugi exclaimed in shock

"Just some robes" Bakura shrugged putting the traditional traveler's robes on "The battery on my watch sometimes runs out, it can be a long way between cities on foot"

Duke was giving Yugi a clear 'I told you so' look well Bakura put his backpack back on

"Besides" Bakura continued "The fabric of real robes is much better for rain. It's heavier sure but keeps you warm and dry"

Yugi nodded listening to the trainer's advice more urgently then his brother's. Bakura was an actual trainer who traveled the world. Duke was a shop keeper. Not to say what Duke did wasn't hard but he didn't have any real experience in the life of a trainer. He didn't even own a Pokemon! Yugi admittedly would often dismiss what Duke said on the subject. Ignoring the fact that Duke did talk to a lot of trainers and had to know what it was like in order to have his stores properly stocked.

"Come back when you're done" Duke said to Bakura "I'm going to be opening this place up as a hotel for trainers, been upgrading all these empty rooms. It be a big favor to me if I had someone test out the chambers. I also picked out which chambers will be good to set up shop. I'll need some help moving all of mine and Yugi's stuff into the rooms come morning"

Now it was Bakura's turn to sigh "Yeah okay. See you guys later"

Once he was gone Yugi looked up at Duke "When you do all that?"

"About five seconds from now" Duke smiled "Come on help me pick out our new chambers"

Bakura figured he was being played but was thankful to his friend for letting him stay the night. Just because he set up in weather like this before doesn't mean he wanted to.

Pulling the hood up that was attached to his robes he walked outside. The rain heavily beat down on him as the wing assaulted him from the left. Thunder cracked as lighting struck the Ground a few miles out.

It was hard to see put Bakura could made out figures standing in the rain not far ahead. Shrugging he supposed he wasn't the only one crazy enough to willingly endure this weather. He'd have to walk by them in order to leave the city. Doing so with no mind he didn't notice the bat that cracked him in the back of the head.

Groaning Bakura opened his eyes. He was in the ruins. His robes along with his backpack and Duel Disk were cast off to the side. The generator had been switched off leaving him stark naked. He tried to get up but chains attached to his wrist prevented from doing more then sit.

A group of men wearing dark robes stood around him.

"Is it him?" one of the men asked as another held out a strange device over Bakura's head "Is it finally him?" the man asked excitedly

The device made some soft odd beeping sound that slowly grew loader.

"It's him" The man holding the device confirmed "His soul is compatible to contain our Lord's essence, it's held it before. My brothers" he smiled lowering the device and taking a step back. He outstretched his other hand pointing out Bakura "I give you..." for some reason he stopped talking for dramatic effect "The Thief King"

The men laughed, some cheered.

"I've never stolen anything in my life!" That was the only conclusion his dazed mind could come up with. That these people must think he stole something from them.

The men ignored him and began to chant something in a long dead language. They gracefully moved their hands in unison. It was then Bakura noticed the markings on the floor. A star with 13 points drawn out with strange symbols. Each of the men were standing directly on a point. Their feet positioned perfectly. Suddenly the men began to shut and raise their hands. The shadows around the symbols began to move. Bakura could swear they were creeping towards him. The men snapped their arms back down, fingers stretched out and pointing towards him. That's when the shadows charged. They leaped into the air and pierced him. They forced their way into his pours and through his eyes. It was cold, so cold it burned. Bakura shrieked out at pain he could never have imagined. There was something else. Something else hidden in the pain. A whisper that creeped into his mind, laughing. Suddenly that laugh ripped out of his own mouth. Screaming and laughing at the same time. Slowly those screams died down until only a sly chuckle could be heard.

The man stopped their chant and one stepped forward in front of the naked teen "My Lord Zorc, welcome back to this realm"

"You lot seem to quite enjoy the dramatics" The voice coming from Bakura's mouth was lower, more sinister, with a British accent. Not that any of the mortals in the room new what Britain was "I admit I have a certain flare for them myself" the shadows around them once again began to move as they wrapped around the iron chains forcing them to decay. The metal fell in pieces on the floor and the shadows calmed down. Standing the being they called Zorc placed his hand on the man's shoulder. He smiled slyly before crashing his other hand into the man's chest.

The men around him took a step back, fear written all over their faces as the crimson fluid gushed out around Zorc's arm.

"It's been so long since I felt the warmth of blood against my skin" spoke Zorc as he slowly withdrew his hand, taking the man's heart out with it. The veins were still attached as it pulsed in the demon's hand. With his other still grasping the man's shoulder he held the man up, refusing to let him fall and die "So long since I enjoyed the taste of a still beating heart" saliva pooled in his mouth as he took a bite, blood gushing around his lips and chin.

Laughing he let got of the heart and gave the man a gentle push allowing him to fall on his back.

"Master?" another man approached "We found it" he pointed at a golden puzzle box laying with Bakura's discarded things.

"Good" Zorc grinned "Now I need only one last thing from you, my loyal servants. It's rather important I find out the range of this new body, so kindly... die"

He threw a punch into the man's face, breaking his nose. The shadows around the only exist turned into solid bars locking the men in.

Zorc launched himself at the man, ripping out organs and coating himself in blood. This body moved quickly. Zorc observed through the men's screams. It was fast and strong. All that walking kept it fit.

One of his 'loyal' servants pulled out a pistol from his robes and aimed it at Zorc's head. Anticipating the shot Zorc easily dogged then grabbed the man's gun hand "naughty, naughty" he seized the man's throat next. He jerked the hand into the man's face, breaking his arm "these are quite illegal aren't they? Only police and soldiers are allowed to have them. Are you a soldier? Well I guess you are in a sense. My soldier" Zorc forced the gun to point at the man's head "Show me how good you are at obeying orders... Pull the trigger"

The man's eyes turned about the room. At his brothers laying on the floor, their insides laying beside them. Some of them were still alive. Then, fearing what would happen if he didn't, he obeyed the order.

Zorc laughed tossing the lifeless corpses to the side then sighed in content "That was fun, wouldn't you agree" His eyes turned back at the star, at the intangible spirit that only his eyes could see. The spirit had one hand over his mouth and another under his chin, staring in shock at what just happened "Together again aye Bakura" Zorc grinned then turned his eyes onto one of the dying men "I suppose there is a little more to this body I should test out"

He walked over to the man gagging on his own blood with entrails hanging out his gut. Bending down Zorc pulled the entrails out a little further then draped them over his neck like I scarf. He softly kissed the man's lips getting the taste of blood. Tearing off the man's clothes he tenderly shoved his own cock into the man. Slowly moving his hips he laughed at the spirit "How does it feel to lose your virginity Bakura"

Zorc returned to tenderly kissing the man and slowly increasing the speed of his hips. He gently caressed the man's skin and delicately kissed his neck. A gurgling sound caught his attention.

"Let me show you how merciful your god is" Zorc whispered sweetly increasing his hips "Let's send you to the afterlife in ahhhhhhhh" Zorc moaned as his body shivered and let loose. He frowned pulling out his blood covered cock "Honestly Bakura when was the last time you jerked off? The guy's not even dead yet. My apologies for being so quick my friend" Zorc smiled as he snapped the man's neck.

Tearing the entrails from the body so he could move more freely he walked over to Bakura "Why so sad my friend?" he asked "This is a happy occasion" hearing the last of the men die Zorc said "Perhaps you need a moment to fully appreciate our reunion"

Bakura suddenly found himself back in control of his body. Looking at his hands he started to hyperventilate. He ripped the entrails off his body and started rubbing at the blood in an attempt to remove it. It was too much. Falling to his knees his stomach emptied itself and he curled up into a ball tears leaking from his eyes.

He didn't know how long he stayed like that completely trapped by shock. Finally he began to make sense of the noise in the background. Turning his head to the source his eyes grew wide at the sight. A hideous monster, gigantic and reeking of evil, was towering over him. Horns and fangs and pure red eyes, even its cock was vicious. Spiky with the head of a dragon that had teeth of its own. The demon was laughing so deep and vile. It spoke although its mouth did not move. A low demonic voice matched only by its form "Aren't you going to welcome me home Bakura?" it wasn't in the room. Bakura didn't hear it with his ears. It was inside his head.

Spying the discarded gun Bakura got up and ran after it. Grabbing the mechanism, and with hope that the creature couldn't stop him, he pointed it at his own head and pulled the trigger. He was dead... for all of an hour. Slowly his tossed out brains and bits of his skull slithered back in. Even his hair reattached itself. Eyes no longer glazed over he blinked looking back at the creature.

"You really didn't think it be that easy did you?"

###

Yugi helped move his things into his new room. The chambers they picked out were amazing and remarkably long-term. Yugi had never even been in here before. The chambers consisted of five rooms. The living area, which was comprised of the living room and a small kitchen, three bedrooms, and a bathroom. It was like its own little apartment. Duke said he wanted to turn one of the bedrooms into a study but Yugi suspected it was if Duke ever had kids. He had been dating this one girl for a couple years now. With Yugi grown and soon off on his own adventure Duke could finally have a chance for a more traditional family. Yugi new that's what the girl wanted at least.

Yugi heard a knock at the door to the chambers. Odd seeing as it was open. Peeking his head out of his room he saw Bakura standing at the front door and Duke making his way towards him.

"You're late" said Duke

"Sorry" Bakura rubbed the back of his head "the storm got a little rougher then I expected. I had to find shelter and wait it out but... I kind of feel asleep" he blushed

Duke sighed "Well you're here now so. Come on I need your help with the beds. Yugi!" he suddenly called not even looking in the boy's direction "stop eavesdropping and put your stuff away" Yugi ducked back into the room.

Despite Yugi being completely plugged in to his generator he did have a lot of real stuff. As a result this stuff couldn't be taken with him. His favorite stuffed Pikachu from his favorite cartoon for example. Duke bought him a lot of real things. His bed, pillows, sheets, furniture the man just didn't trust technology. Maybe he just liked the feel or the novelty of something made from true resources found on their world. Digital stuff was so much cheaper but Duke had the money and could afford to spend it.

It didn't matter. Regardless Yugi was about to be far too old for toys, real or digital. He was going to be ten soon. Legally an adult and old enough to challenge gyms or enter Pokemon contest. Too old for toys and cartoons. Yugi considered deleting or maybe just storing those programs into his PC account. Shaking his head he realized he couldn't do it. He couldn't part with his beloved toys no matter how grown up he was. Hugging Pikachu he wished he could take him with him.

"Hey Squirt" Duke's voice directly behind the boy forced him to blush at being caught in the act "Get out for a second"

Yugi turned and saw his brother and Bakura holding the wooden frame of the bed. As the boy started to move to put Pikachu off to the side Duke called "Just get out and take Pikachu with you" Yugi did as he was told, needing to duck under the bed they were holding in order to do it.

Yugi sat in the kitchen, his stuffed Pikachu on the table. He must of spaced out for longer then he realized as in walked Bakura.

"You done with the bed already?" Yugi blinked

"It's been like an hour" Bakura laughed "All your furniture as been moved in. We're taking a break then moving Duke's stuff. Hey Yugi" Bakura smiled taking his bag off "I got you something" he pulled out a small golden box and handed it to the child

Opening up the surprisingly heavy top he found a bunch of golden pieces with strange hydrographics on them.

"What's this?" Yugi blinked again

"It's a puzzle, figured you might want to give it a try"

"Looks hard"

"There's a trick too it. Don't try to solve it instead try to remember where the pieces go" at Yugi's blank expression Bakura encouraged "Go on give it a try"

Yugi pulled out two pieces and tried to force them together but they just wouldn't go.

"Empty your mind" Bakura advised walking behind him "Dig deep inside and remember"

Closing his eyes for a moment and trying out what Bakura suggested he hallowed out his mind. Opening them back up he saw a different two pieces in the box that just felt right. Taking them out he smiled when they clicked together. Getting more pieces he became shocked at how easy this was. While he was nearly finished he didn't notice Bakura taking a knife from the kitchen, nor the devilish smile on his face.

Raising the knife Bakura was struggling not to laugh. Suddenly he screamed dropping his weapon.

Yugi turned to find Bakura holding his head in pain "You okay?" he asked worried

"Sorry just watching you do that gives me a headache" Bakura groaned in agony

Yugi smiled figuring Bakura was playing "I've always been good at puzzles" he said proudly turning back

###

This whole time Bakura watched helplessly as the demon called Zorc moved his body like a puppeteer. He screamed and begged his friends to hear him but they could not. He couldn't figure out why the creature was helping move furniture but after the evil that he saw he knew some darker plot was in motion. It all come together when Zorc handed Yugi the puzzle. For some reason Zorc couldn't solve it himself. Maybe he needed someone innocent to do it for him. Whatever that puzzle was it must be evil. Bakura couldn't let the demon have it. The last straw and perhaps the biggest motivation was when Zorc picked up the knife and headed towards Yugi. Within his mind Bakura tackled the giant and forced him further in, far too deep for him to maintain control.

Now Bakura was back in his body with one important thought 'run'. He had to get out of here, away from his friends, away from any living soul! He'd find a rock somewhere at sea and trap himself on it. Let himself starve to death. Give the beast no choice but to let him die.

He stood up tall and slowly walked out of the kitchen as to not alert the boy. He nearly made it out of the building but Duke stopped him at the door.

"Where are you going?" Duke asked "Still need your help"

"Just going out to try my hand against the gym leader again. I'll be right back" He lied most thoroughly. He had no intention of fighting the gym leader or coming back.

Duke sighed "Okay but first I got to ask you a huge favor, been doing that a lot recently"

"I don't mind" Bakura answered immediately and truthfully only realizing after the words left his mouth that he just signed up to stay here longer

"Okay no easy way to say this so here it goes. I want you to take Yugi with you when you go" Duke spat out

"Ex-excuse me?"

"He's just a kid. I know he's going to be ten soon and boys that age leave home all the time... but he's just a kid. I'd feel a lot better if he was traveling with an experienced trainer and I know you're a reliable guy I can count on"

"T-that really isn't a good idea" That was a HORRIBLE idea. Zorc just tried to kill Yugi! Bakura couldn't take a chance like that!

"I know you like to travel on your own but Yugi's a great kid. He'll be hardly any trouble at all and on the RARE occasion that he does act up you have my permission to spank him" Duke spoke quickly noticing Bakura shake his head he tried a different tactic "Of course you'll be well compensated. I can't exactly give that money to Yugi. He'll spend it all on cards and starve to death on the road. I'll need to make sure you have enough credits to keep him feed. Oh and naturally you've seen how the boy cooks. It will be a nice treat after you've had years drinking nothing but those nasty health drinks"

"I'm sorry Duke but I really must decline. I know nothing about children" Bakura was trying to keep his voice calm put failed to keep the sorrow from letting down his friend

Noticing that Duke sighed "Alright" he sounded disappointed "Guess I'll just have to hire some stranger to look after him"

"I am sorry Duke" Bakura swore before making a break for it.

Duke watched run and somewhere deep inside he doubted he's ever see that boy again.

###

Bakura ran out of the city, many would assume in the wrong direction. He needed to get back to the ocean, away from people. He could free his Pokemon at the shore. Eevloreon could take care of his siblings in the wild.

Bakura would get on the first boat out of here and head for Kanto. He didn't plan on making it there. Once he was deep in the ocean he'd jump off the boat. If anyone tried to stop him or scream 'overboard' he'd just tell them he was a Water Pokemon trainer and wanted to explore the sea. He would just stay out there in the ocean, lost forever. Zorc could never hurt anyone again.

His plans were ruined shortly after leaving the towns check point office. A purple fog erupted in front of him and there stood Yugi with his Gastly. He looked different. His features were slightly sharper and his eyes appeared older but the most noticeable difference was he had grown at least a foot. Bakura noticed none of this as he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"Y-Yugi" Bakura stuttered "I didn't know Gastly could teleport"

"Strange you think my little friend here did that" Yugi's voice was deeper, more mature, with an air of elegance to it "I'm afraid I can't let you leave"

"Look I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye but I really-"

"You can't beat him on your own" Yugi interrupted "I can feel him in you, my oldest enemy. How long do you think you can hold him back?"

Bakura stayed silent a moment as he put the pieces together. Yugi's form, his voice, the puzzle complete and held against the boy's neck by a black choke collar with golden studs and trim.

"No..." Bakura choked

"Only I can beat him" Yugi held up his hand and that purple gas moved like living shadows from his palm. It burst out and hit a nearby tree, completely vaporizing it.

As he put his hand down Bakura ran towards him. He grabbed the creature and gave him a little shake "Get out of him. Get out of him this instant!" he demanded the spirit

"I'm afraid that's not possible" spoke the spirit "I've always been here. The puzzle just let me out. I mean no harm to the boy or to you" he held up his hands in a peaceful gesture "Only Zorc should fear me. I can stop him when you can't. I can fight him when you fail, and I'm the only one who can. Go me" He chuckled "Hide away if you like but he will get out again and if I'm not around lots of people are going to die"

###

Duke stood at the counter watching the door. It was Sunday so his little shop was closed despite having vertically no business the other night. He went back to opening Booster Packs and sorting out the cards. Hearing the door chime regardless of the 'closed' sign he looked back up and saw Yugi standing there with Bakura. The little guy must have convinced him not to leave.

"That was fast" Duke remarked "How'd you get outside anyway" he hadn't seen his kid brother leave or even come down stairs.

The boy looked puzzled for a moment "I don't know" he admitted in that high pitched not yet broken voice of his

Duke just shook his head as the boy ran back upstairs "Is that my choker?" he called after him

"It's mine now" the boy hollered back

"Thief!" Duke screamed with mock anger before turning to Bakura "Should I ask about that pyramid thing hanging from his neck?"

"Probably not" Bakura answered shame faced as he walked up to the counter.

"Weren't you going off to challenge the gym leader, seemed rather urgent" Duke made another remark

Bakura shook his head, staying silent a moment "I've decided... to reconsider your offer"

Duke smiled, Yugi had obviously done more then convince him not to leave "It was his cooking wasn't it" he joked

###

Next Time: Never Stopping

Bakura fights with the notion of continuing his life despite being possessed by a demon. The Pharaoh is awakened. Kaiba comes into town.


End file.
